Deck 12: Congress

Question 1

A member of the House of Representatives who helps a constituent apply for Social Security benefits is engaging in

A)casework.
B)corruption.
C)earmarking.
D)logrolling.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The kind of representation that takes place when constituents have the power to hire and fire their representatives is called ________ representation.

A)agency
B)sociological
C)delegate
D)trustee

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In 1972, approximately ________ percent of House members' personal staffs were located in district offices; by 2010, the number had grown to nearly ________ percent.

A)0; 100
B)20; 50
C)33; 75
D)45; 67

Answer 3

B

Question 4

If a legislative body was composed of 15 percent Latinos and 70 percent males in a state whose residents were 35 percent Latino and 50 percent male, the legislative body could be
Said to lack ________ representation.

A)agency
B)sociological
C)delegate
D)trustee

Question 5

The House of Representatives and the Senate come closest to providing sociological representation on which of the following characteristics?

A)gender
B)education
C)race
D)religion

Question 6

A senator or representative running for re-election is called the

A)constituent.
B)incumbent.
C)trustee.
D)delegate.

Question 7

Which sort of representation is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives, then one could correctly represent the
Other's views?

A)agency
B)sociological
C)trustee
D)delegate

Question 8

The first woman was elected to Congress in

A)1790.
B)1865.
C)1892.
D)1917.

Question 9

In each House district, there are approximately ________ people.

A)250,000
B)700,000
C)1.3 million
D)2.5 million

Question 10

The delegate model of representation requires that

A)representatives follow their conscious in voting regardless of how strong their constituents' opinions are on an issue.
B)voters are allowed to vote directly on all government policies without having to channel their preferences through an elected representative.
C)representatives remain in constant touch with constituents and that constituents follow each policy issue very closely.
D)interest groups are prohibited from lobbying elected representatives.

Question 11

A member of Congress who feels only loosely constrained by the policy preferences of his or her constituents and empowered to make the decisions he or she thinks best is acting as a

A)trustee.
B)delegate.
C)lobbyist.
D)policy entrepreneur.

Question 12

Under the original Constitution, senators

A)served four-year terms.
B)were appointed by state legislatures.
C)were selected by the federal judiciary.
D)could serve only two terms.

Question 13

The first female Speaker of the House was

A)Nancy Pelosi.
B)Hillary Clinton.
C)Jeanette Rankin.
D)Sarah Palin.

Question 14

Congress is a ________ legislature with ________ total members.

A)unicameral; 342
B)bicameral; 535
C)bicameral; 100
D)bicameral; 275

Question 15

Approximately ________ percent of members of Congress have university degrees.

A)33
B)50
C)75
D)90

Question 16

What is the MOST common occupation among members of Congress before coming to Congress?

A)business executive
B)lobbyist
C)college professor
D)lawyer

Question 17

A U.S.senator has a ________-year term.

A)two
B)four
C)six
D)eight

Question 18

A major risk of the delegate model of representation is that

A)no new laws will be passed because all representatives must agree before a bill can be enacted.
B)elected officials will spend too much time attempting to raise money for their next campaign because they must seek re-election so frequently.
C)elected officials will completely ignore their constituents' preferences because they are following their own beliefs about which policies are best.
D)the voices of only a few active and informed constituents will be heard because most people do not pay close attention to every issue.

Question 19

The first woman to serve in Congress was

A)Susan B.Anthony.
B)Eleanor Roosevelt.
C)Jeanette Rankin.
D)Nancy Pelosi.

Question 20

A member of Congress who votes for a bill with which he or she disagrees because a majority of his or her constituents favor it is acting as a

A)trustee.
B)delegate.
C)lobbyist.
D)policy entrepreneur.

Question 21

Race became a major factor in drawing congressional district lines as a result of

A)Title IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
B)Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
C)the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v.Holder.
D)the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Question 22

The so-called bridge to nowhere was important because it became a symbol of

A)the problems with Congress's lack of racial diversity.
B)the Supreme Court's increasing willingness to overturn acts of Congress.
C)wasteful congressional spending through earmarks.
D)the federal government's ability to effectively respond to infrastructure problems.

Question 23

The Supreme Court has ruled that

A)reapportionment can only take place in a state once every 20 years.
B)reapportionment can only take place in a state once every 40 years.
C)state governments must give voters final approval over any congressional district lines that are drawn by a state legislature.
D)state governments can use independent commissions rather than state legislatures to draw congressional district lines.

Question 24

A number of states have responded to concerns about partisan gerrymandering by

A)banning redistricting.
B)taking redistricting power away from their state legislature and giving it to independent commissions.
C)taking redistricting power away from independent commissions and giving it to their state legislature.
D)taking redistricting power away from independent commissions and giving it to their state governor.

Question 25

The process of allocating congressional seats among the 50 states is called

A)redistricting.
B)gerrymandering.
C)redlining.
D)apportionment.

Question 26

Republican House member Randy "Duke" Cunningham was

A)sent to jail in 2005 for accepting bribes by companies hoping to receive earmarks in return.
B)the primary supporter of a bill that would have prohibited the use of earmarks in Congress.
C)the initiator of a lawsuit heard by the Supreme Court about the constitutionality of earmarks.
D)the first member of Congress to propose that representatives publish a list of all earmark requests on a single website.

Question 27

What did the Supreme Court justices declare in Miller v.Johnson (1995)?

A)Districts could not be drawn to favor the incumbent candidate.
B)The racial composition of a district could not be the predominant factor when redistricting.
C)It was not unconstitutional for states to use an unelected, nonpartisan committee to redistrict.
D)The use of computer technologies to draw districts that will favor one party over another is unconstitutional.

Question 28

The frequency with which they must seek re-election makes members of the U.S.House of Representatives

A)more responsive to the needs of the elites in the states they represent.
B)less responsive to the needs of the elites in the states they represent.
C)less responsive to the needs of local interest groups in the districts they represent.
D)more responsive to the needs of local interest groups in the districts they represent.

Question 29

Between 1995 and 2006, the number of congressional earmarks

A)remained the same.
B)dropped to nearly zero.
C)nearly doubled.
D)increased by a factor of 10.

Question 30

There are ________ states that have taken redistricting power away from state legislatures and given it to independent commissions.

A)0
B)6
C)21
D)33

Question 31

________ bills are one of Congress's favorite vehicles for pork-barrel spending.

A)Education
B)Veteran's affairs
C)Health care
D)Highway

Question 32

Gerrymandering refers to the

A)manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group.
B)practice whereby legislators trade their support or opposition on one bill to get the support of another legislator on a different bill.
C)investigations of the executive branch by members of Congress.
D)tactic used by members of the Senate to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down.

Question 33

If a member of the House of Representatives won his or her first election with 52 percent of the vote and won his or her second election with 75 percent, it would be an example of the

A)"second-election surprise."
B)"rich get richer" effect.
C)"sophomore surge."
D)"incumbency increase."

Question 34

During the past several decades, the ________ and the ________ have benefited most from apportionment.

A)Northeast; Midwest
B)Northeast; South
C)South; Midwest
D)South; West

Question 35

The term pork barrel refers to

A)any piece of legislation that changes the number of agricultural subsidies provided to farmers by the federal government.
B)the collective set of laws that regulate America's meat exports.
C)bills that grant a special privilege to a person named in the bill.
D)appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but are created so that local representatives can win re-election in their home districts.

Question 36

One reason some people support the establishment of term limits in the House and Senate is that it will

A)decrease the power and influence of interest groups.
B)decrease turnover in Congress and lead to more experienced legislators.
C)increase turnover and get new faces into Congress.
D)limit the power and influence of the judiciary.

Question 37

In 2011

A)the House of Representatives dramatically increased the number of earmarks in its spending bills, while the Senate dramatically decreased the number of earmarks in its spending bills.
B)the Senate dramatically increased the number of earmarks in its spending bills, while the House of Representatives dramatically decreased the number of earmarks in its spending bills.
C)both the House of Representatives and the Senate dramatically increased the number of earmarks in their spending bills.
D)the House and the Senate agreed to a two-year moratorium on earmarks in spending bills.

Question 38

The "sophomore surge" refers to the

A)fact that many members of Congress lose their re-election campaigns after their second terms in office.
B)tendency for college students to intern with their local members of Congress during the summer between their sophomore and junior years in college.
C)fact that most members of Congress leave office after serving only two years.
D)tendency for candidates to win a higher percentage of the vote when seeking future terms in office.

Question 39

The number of seats in the House of Representatives has been fixed at ________ since ________.

A)100; 1790
B)100; 1929
C)435; 1929
D)435; 1959

Question 40

Senators' longer terms of office, and larger, more heterogeneous constituencies makes them more

A)attuned to the needs of groups and interests organized on a city- or countywide basis.
B)likely to consider new ideas and better able to act as the agents for groups and interests organized on a statewide or national basis.
C)likely to serve existing interests than to bring together new coalitions of interests.
D)likely to spend their time thinking about and running for re-election.

Question 41

A bill proposed in Congress that grants citizenship to a specifically named individual from a foreign country would be an example of a(n)

A)public bill.
B)private bill.
C)executive order.
D)executive agreement.

Question 42

Conference committees are

A)permanent and involve members from both the House and the Senate.
B)temporary and are created to take up an issue that falls between the jurisdiction of existing committees, to highlight an issue, or to investigate a particular problem.
C)permanent and have the power to write and propose legislation.
D)temporary, involve members from both houses of Congress, and are charged with reaching a compromise on legislation once it has been passed by both the House and the Senate.

Question 43

Which three factors related to the American electoral system affect who is elected to office in this country and what they do once they get there?

A)party affiliation, family connections, and the substance of issues raised during a campaign
B)who decides to run for office, incumbency, and the drawing of district lines
C)incumbency, franking, and party affiliation
D)military service, professional connections, and religious beliefs

Question 44

The four joint committees in Congress are

A)economic, taxation, library, and printing.
B)foreign affairs, welfare, currency, and trade.
C)globalization, human rights, employment, and citizenship.
D)justice, agriculture, education, and technology.

Question 45

In the House of Representatives, what is the relationship between the majority leader and the Speaker of the House?

A)The majority leader is subordinate to the Speaker of the House.
B)They are the same office.
C)The majority leader is superior in formal powers to the Speaker of the House.
D)The majority leader has the same powers as the Speaker of the House but is a different office.

Question 46

Which of the following best describes a way in which the House differs from the Senate?

A)The House is more centralized and organized than the Senate.
B)The House is a looser and more deliberative body than the Senate.
C)The members of the House are much less specialized than the members of the Senate.
D)The House has a much greater level of turnover in its membership than the Senate.

Question 47

The House Rules Committee is important because it

A)is placed in charge of selecting the Speaker of the House.
B)decides the order in which bills come up for a vote on the House floor and determines the specific rules that govern the length of debate and opportunity for amendments.
C)reviews all applications regarding the formation of select committees.
D)determines the jurisdiction of every congressional standing committee.

Question 48

How is the Speaker of the House determined?

A)The vice president of the United States is also Speaker of the House.
B)The representative with the longest tenure in the House is the Speaker of the House.
C)The elected leader of the majority party in the House is the Speaker.
D)The president selects the Speaker of the House from the majority party in the House.

Question 49

Joint committees are ________ have the power to present legislation.

A)temporary but
B)permanent and
C)temporary and do not
D)permanent but do not

Question 50

The president pro tempore of the Senate is usually

A)the minority party leader with the greatest seniority.
B)the minority party leader with the least seniority.
C)selected directly by the president.
D)the majority party member with the greatest seniority.

Question 51

Who has the MOST real power in the Senate?

A)the president of the Senate
B)the majority and minority leaders
C)the Senate president pro tempore
D)the chair of the Rules Committee

Question 52

The term whip in discussions of Congress refers to

A)a punishment party leaders give when a member of Congress does not vote with the rest of his or her party.
B)a Senate rule that allows 60 senators to immediately end another senator's filibuster.
C)the majority party leader's chief of staff.
D)a party member in the House or Senate responsible for coordinating the party's legislative strategy, building support for key issues, and counting votes.

Question 53

Over what does the House Ways and Means Committee have jurisdiction?

A)taxes, trade, and entitlement programs
B)foreign relations and national security
C)rules governing debate on the floor and committee assignments
D)highways and waterways

Question 54

The Senate and House Appropriations committees are important because they

A)determine the number of seats on each congressional committee.
B)are placed in charge of redistricting after every census.
C)decide how much funding various programs will receive and how the money will be spent.
D)determine what conduct is ethically appropriate for elected representatives and what the penalties associated with inappropriate conduct will be.

Question 55

The jurisdiction of standing committees

A)is related to a specific geographic region.
B)is defined by the subject matter of legislation, which often parallels the major cabinet departments or agencies.
C)is determined by the different political parties.
D)often overlaps with the jurisdiction of select committees.

Question 56

Who decides which committee assignments members of the House of Representatives receive?

A)the Speaker of the House
B)each party's own steering and policy committee
C)the president for members of his or her own party, and either the House majority or minority leader for opposition members
D)each party's whip

Question 57

Which of the following statements best describes the representation of women and minorities in the U.S.Congress?

A)Representation of women and minorities has decreased by one-third since the 1970s.
B)Representation of women and minorities has increased during the past two decades but is not comparable to their proportions in the general population.
C)Women are underrepresented in Congress, but there is a disproportionate representation of minorities in Congress.
D)Since the mid-1990s, the number of women and minorities in Congress roughly reflects their proportions in the general population.

Question 58

The 2015 House of Representatives committee that held hearings to investigate Hillary Clinton's use of private email services during her tenure as secretary of state is an example of
A ________ committee.

A)standing
B)select
C)joint
D)conference

Question 59

Congressional leaders form ________ committees when they want to take up an issue that falls between the jurisdiction of existing committees, to highlight an issue, or to investigate a particular problem.

A)conference
B)joint
C)select
D)standing

Question 60

A ________ specifies general rules and categories of behavior, people, and institutions, while a ________ bill grants a relief, special privilege, or exemption to a particular individual.

A)private bill; public
B)public bill; private
C)continuing resolution; pork barrel
D)consent decree; pork barrel

Question 61

A congressional caucus is a(n)

A)formal substructure of congressional parties oriented toward fund-raising.
B)unofficial group of representatives or senators sharing similar interests or opinions.
C)formal committee that has the power to propose and write legislation.
D)vote by members of the House to determine who the Speaker of the House will be.

Question 62

Which congressional staff agency assesses the economic implications and likely costs of proposed federal programs?

A)the Government Accountability Office
B)the Congressional Research Service
C)the Congressional Budget Office
D)the Office of Management and Budget

Question 63

In the House of Representatives, virtually all the time allotted by the Rules Committee for debate on a given bill is controlled by the

A)majority leader and the minority leader.
B)bill's sponsor and its leading opponent.
C)whip.
D)Rules Committee chairperson.

Question 64

The filibuster

A)has never been a frequently used tactic in the U.S.Senate.
B)was rarely used throughout most of American history but has become a frequently used tactic in the U.S.Senate during the last 20 years.
C)was a frequently used tactic in the U.S.Senate throughout most of American history but has almost never been used during the last 20 years.
D)has always been a frequently used tactic in the U.S.Senate.

Question 65

The "nuclear option" refers to a

A)proposal to extend the use of the filibuster to the House of Representatives.
B)constitutional amendment to eliminate senatorial approval of nominees for positions in the executive branch and the federal courts.
C)policy of restructuring Congress in a way that would eliminate the committee system.
D)change to the filibuster rules enacted in 2013 that prevents the filibustering of nominees for positions in the executive branch and the federal courts.

Question 66

What is cloture?

A)the ability of a senator to speak for as long as he or she wishes to prevent action from being taken on legislation that he or she opposes
B)the process by which three-fifths of the Senate can end a filibuster
C)the rule that allows one house of Congress to circumvent the other during the legislative process
D)a lawsuit filed by a member of the Senate against a member of the House or vice versa

Question 67

The session in which a congressional committee rewrites legislation to incorporate changes discussed during hearings on a bill is called the

A)logrolling stage.
B)oversight phase.
C)roll-call vote.
D)committee markup.

Question 68

The congressional practice of "ping pong" occurs when

A)Congress passes a new version of a law that was previously struck down as unconstitutional by the federal judiciary.
B)Congress passes a new version of a law that was previously vetoed by the president.
C)there is a divided Congress and the House and Senate exchange amendments in order to reach agreement on the final version of a bill.
D)a bill is passed in one house of Congress but not passed in the other.

Question 69

Which of the following are methods U.S.senators can use to block or delay debate on a bill?

A)filibustering, calling for a cloture vote, and logrolling
B)filibustering, adding amendments to a bill, and placing a hold on a bill
C)calling for a cloture vote, calling for a party unity vote, and logrolling
D)calling for a cloture vote, adding amendments to a bill, and logrolling

Question 70

Approximately ________ percent of the ________ bills introduced in a typical congressional session die in committee.

A)50; 1,000
B)85; 1,000
C)50; 10,000
D)85; 10,000

Question 71

A filibuster allows members of the Senate to

A)refer a bill to multiple committees.
B)avoid a conference committee.
C)prevent a vote on a bill by speaking continuously on the floor.
D)add amendments to any bill at any time.

Question 72

Conference committees

A)must always include members from both political parties.
B)must always include members from all three branches of government.
C)are only likely to include members from both political parties when control of Congress is divided.
D)are only likely to include members from all three branches of government when control of Congress is divided.

Question 73

The Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office are examples of

A)staff agencies.
B)caucuses.
C)select committees.
D)conference committees.

Question 74

A ________ veto occurs when Congress adjourns during a 10-day period after presenting the president with a bill and he or she takes no action.

A)procrastination
B)pocket
C)silent
D)line-item

Question 75

How can Congress override a president's veto?

A)A president's veto can be overridden with a two-thirds vote in either chamber.
B)A president's veto can be overridden with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
C)A president's veto can be overridden with a simple majority vote in both chambers.
D)A president's veto cannot be overridden, according to the U.S.Constitution.

Question 76

A closed or an open rule refers to congressional provisions regarding

A)whether deliberations are closed or open to the general public.
B)assignment to powerful committees.
C)whether lobbyists are allowed inside Congress.
D)floor debate on a bill.

Question 77

Under the rules of the U.S.Senate, the introduction of new amendments

A)can be stopped only by unanimous consent.
B)can be stopped only by a vote of 60 senators.
C)is only allowed during the committee markup stage.
D)is controlled by the Rules Committee.

Question 78

A bill's supporters in the House of Representatives generally prefer ________, while opponents generally prefer a(n) ________.

A)an open rule; closed rule
B)a closed rule; open rule
C)cloture; filibuster
D)a committee markup; closed rule

Question 79

Which agencies in Congress are designed to oversee administrative agencies and evaluate presidential proposals?

A)committee
B)oversight
C)staff
D)review

Question 80

Organizational reforms instituted by Congress in the 1970s

A)fragmented power by reducing the power of committee chairs.
B)centralized power into the hands of party leaders.
C)sped up legislation by reducing the number of committees to which a bill was referred.
D)reduced the scrutiny of the media by closing hearings to the public.